The present invention concerns an electronic processing apparatus provided with one or more interactive display devices, of the remote type, able to present graphic and/or alphanumerical information processed by processing units of the incorporated type or by an electronic calculator, and to interact with a user.
The present invention is applied, preferably although not exclusively, in fields where advanced graphic functions and interactivity are not necessary full-time, such as the domestic field, as in control devices and/or supervision devices for heating plants, lighting, anti-theft devices; in the personal field such as palm top calculators, miniaturized calculators to be incorporated in articles of clothing, or localization and/or telecommunication devices; in the industrial field for complex plants, normally lacking an interaction interface with the operator.
Interactive display devices are known, separated physically from the calculator or calculator unit with which they operate.
In these devices, when the display device is first switched on, it is normally necessary for the user to intervene in order to adjust the functioning parameters. Moreover, the display device needs separate connection cables, at least one to receive the signals to be translated into graphic form, bulky and costly, and another intended for feed.
These characteristics therefore entail both an increase in the costs of production of the devices, and also delays in preparing the apparatuses and problems in the management of the cables. Furthermore, it is inadvisable to connect or disconnect a standard display device from a calculator unit that is already switched on, due to possible differences in the respective feed currents and/or possible unwanted electrostatic discharges.
Interactive display devices are also known which form a single body with the calculator unit. In this context there is an ever-growing need to reduce the bulk, in order to improve the characteristics of portability of the calculator units and their use in non-usual operating situations.
This requirement cannot always be satisfied, mainly due to the intrinsically large sizes of the screen. Moreover, when the calculator unit is switched on, the display device is always fed, even when there is no need for it to be used; this characteristic entails an increase in the average consumption of the calculator unit and, if it is portable, reduces its operating autonomy.
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Personal computers are becoming more and more widespread in everyday life and in the environment, mixing with the environment itself (pervasive computing) and can also be applied directly on the user (wearable computing); for example, personal computers worn on the wrist or inserted behind the walls of a house are becoming more and more common. In these applications, the more a device is invisible, ergonomic and autonomous, the more it is advanced and therefore appreciated by the market. There is a growing requirement in the market for smaller and smaller devices, integrated and with low consumption, which, at the moment of use, can still be used easily and comfortably, in particular with graphic and/or input interfaces that are ergonomically convenient.
One purpose of the present invention is to achieve an electronic processing apparatus in which it is possible to separate the computer display from the main device, so as to allow the latter to be miniaturized and reduce average consumption and to wear the display on a portable object, but which can be connected to a main calculator unit only when necessary (for example to control the state, impart commands via a touch screen, output analysis . . . ).
Another purpose is to achieve an electronic processing apparatus comprising a remote interactive display device, separate from the calculator unit, but able to be integrated with it both quickly and easily, and to perfect a method for the automatic configuration of the necessary parameters, such as for example the resolution of the screen, in order to display the images correctly, that is, to be able to connect any screen so that the main calculator unit recognizes it and consequently adapts the functioning and resolution parameters automatically.
Another purpose of the present invention is to achieve an electronic processing apparatus able to derive the source of feed of the display device from that of the calculator unit, by means of a single connection cable, through which the graphic information signals are also transferred.
Another purpose is to obtain the connection of the display device to the calculator unit also when the calculator unit is already switched on, that is, to be able to hot-plug the remote display, without switching off the main calculator unit.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain the purposes indicated above, and also other advantages.